A plan to discontinue home mail delivery across Canada and, instead, install neighbourhood super mailboxes will not go unchallenged by the City of Langley.
Langley City council voted on Sept. 15 to send a letter to Canada Post opposing an end to home delivery in the municipality.
The move comes in response to a two-line, hand-written letter from a City resident asking the City to oppose the planned discontinuation of door-to-door service.
The letter goes on to suggest the City could refuse to issue a permit for the installation of the boxes.
After receiving the correspondence, Councillor Gayle Martin moved that the City write a letter to the Crown corporation, opposing super mailboxes outright. However Councillor Dave Hall suggested a more measured approach.
“In some cases, super boxes or reduced home delivery might be appropriate,” said Hall.
“But to end home delivery totally is wrong. The federal government has taken a hard line to end all home delivery but it needs to be preserved in certain circumstances.
“I’d prefer the letter to say that the City publicly opposes an end to all home delivery.”
Council voted unanimously to send a letter opposing the termination of home mail delivery.
Beginning this autumn, the phasing out of door-to-door postal service across Canada will take place over the next five years.
Among the arguments against community mailboxes are the concern that it will result in an increase of mail theft and that it will create a hardship for people with mobility issues.
According to an August report in the Globe and Mail, some Canadian residents may still be eligible for home delivery — but only if they can provide a doctor’s note explaining that it is medically necessary.